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December 8, 2017

Yellow is our Soulie’s favorite color, so when she left it up to me to pick the theme for her birthday, I came up with a “mellow yellow birthday.” Of course, that means our playlist for that weekend was topped by Donovan’s “Mellow Yellow.” Her two birthday requests were to “chill” and see “cool” things, but before we officially did that, we had ourselves a mellow yellow birthday party at home. I got a bunch of yellow decor from Michaels and made her a lavender lemon cake (recipe here). Her favorite part of the party was the piñata. We used the lemonade piñata I made for my sister’s baby shower and we filled the inside with her birthday presents. They all took turns hitting it in the garden, but of course, we made sure she had the last hit that would reveal her special birthday treats.

We conquered the “chill” and see “cool” things part by doing a quick birthday getaway to Palm Springs. Chill involved watching movies and swimming. The cool things were trying new to us Italian ice place, Vinny’s, and she picked mango and lemon ice. Next, we stopped by the Saguaro to hunt down a yellow wall (see photos from when we came here for her 6th birthday here and here). After, we went to the Ace Hotel for photo booth pictures (must do this always whenever we’re in Palm Springs). Finally, we headed to that Instagram famous pink door (pink is her second favorite color). Her 8th birthday wishes definitely came true. Ben and I love these intimate celebrations and being their fairy birthday granters.

Birthdays also call for homemade birthday dresses, so hers is very similar to True’s drop waist dress, but with sleeves. Soul wore it with the yellow beret from her Grandmama and with some cool clogs from Lotta From Stockholm (here’s the silver and the pink). It’s not an all yellow dress, but there are hints of yellow on it.

Every birthday we put together a specific playlist, so when on that trip/weekend (because usually we go out of town for birthdays) those songs sort of “imprint” on us, and every time we hear it later, it reminds us of that special time. It’s one of our favorite things to do for birthdays and roadtrips. Here is the playlist we made for Soul’s:

5 comments on “soul’s mellow yellow 8th birthday”

love your special birthday celebrations! great idea about creating a unique playlist for each celebration as a way to imprint it, and what a lovely dress. what were Soul’s presents and how do you reuse a pinata??

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Kimchi Fried Rice
approximately 6 servings Ingredients:
1. 4 cups day old rice
2. 1 egg per person
3. 2 chopped green onions (white portion for the fried rice, green for garnishing)
4. 1/2 can chopped turkey spam (optional, but I admit I'm a fan of spam)
5. 1 packet of seasoned seaweed (optional)
6. 3 cups good kimchi with its juices
Note:Look for deep red coloring in the juice, and the older the better! This can't be made with fresh kimchi. If the kimchi you buy looks fresh (the cabbage leaves look white and not very flavorful), leave it outside on your kitchen counter overnight.
7. 2 tbsp sesame oil
Directions:
1. Heat up the sesame oil and add in the kimchi (save the juice and set aside). Sauté together, add in the spam, and continue combining it all together.
2. Add in the rice, and break it up mixing it with the kimchi.
3. Add the kimchi juice and the white parts of the green onions. The kimchi juice should turn the rice red.
4. Crumble or cut the seaweed and sprinkle it over and continue to combine it all together.
5. Taste and then season with more kimchi juice if needed.
6. Fry an over easy egg and add that on top. Garnish with the remaining green onions. Plate. Boom. Done. Enjoy!

Helpful tips: Fried rice is best cooked with day old rice. If you don't have day old rice, cook the rice, stick it in the freezer for about 30 minutes to an hour. If it's too hot and fresh, the fried rice will turn out sticky. Also, this recipe doesn't need any additional salt! The kimchi has a very strong flavor, the seasoned seaweed has salt, and the spam is pretty salty too. If the rice tastes bland, try pouring more kimchi juice to season it. Add butter with the sesame oil for extra flavor, but if you're trying to keep it not as low nutrition as possible, leave the butter out!

This recipe is shared and made by my BFF. I just took pictures as she cooked it for us the day I had my little surgery to get my cyst taken care of. She's such a pal! It was totally a minor procedure, but she came for moral support and to make us lunch. I'm thankful for her (and all the yummy food she's ever introduced me to).
Seafood is my favorite type of food to eat, and Korean and Japanese are neck in neck right after. Korean food is just bomb diggity bomb. No joke. If you've never tried it, start with their Korean BBQ, and then work your way up to the bolder flavors. The first time I tried kimchi, it was too strong, but now I absolutely love it! There is much good flavor and spice. Spice! By now you all know how much we love spicy!!! Every time Linda has come over with dinner, it's a new instant favorite and Ben and I are always trying to recreate it. Thanks for sharing the recipe Lin!!!